Black and Grey
by Lizzy De Bellezza
Summary: The course of time has changed, and along with it, a new prophecy is foretold. The daughter of Sirius Black, keeping secrets of her own, is trying to live outside the shadow of her parents: the ones who defeated Lord Voldemort. The threat of the Dark Lord returns, a mysterious, unknown werewolf roams freely, and she can't help notice a glimmer in Draco Malfoy's eyes. (AU)
1. 1: An Unfortunate Event

**PREVIOUSLY**: Marilyn Horsefeather, a sixth-year Slytherin, slips into the Room of Requirement, hoping to avoid the endless torment of Draco Malfoy. Instead of only transforming the place inside its walls, it transforms time, sending her into the past to recreate a new life for herself… as a Gryffindor. She meets the Marauders and begins a relationship with Sirius Black. A seventh-year Slytherin, Zephyros Horsefeather, who happens to be Marilyn's father, discovers that she is from a different time and gives the new information to Voldemort, whose power over the wizarding world seems to have reached its all-time peak. After a failed attempt to capture Marilyn and torture her for information, Voldemort leads an attack on Hogwarts in search for her. On her way to the Shrieking Shack to hide, she is hit by a Full-Body Bind curse and is only found by her nemesis, Zephyros. Knowing now that she is his daughter in some inconceivable way, he has a change of heart and lets her go, freeing her from the curse. She then exits the castle and finds Voldemort using the Cruciatus Curse on Sirius. Having been through Animagus lessons with him, she discovers her inner animal, and pounces on Voldemort as an enormous black jaguar, digging her jaws into his skull, killing him. After the battle is over, they all meet in Dumbledore's office and are informed that Zephyros will be granted amnesty for his earlier actions. Marilyn then warns Dumbledore that Voldemort will rise again. At the end of seventh year, Sirius takes Marilyn into the Room of Requirement one last time and asks for her hand in marriage (From the story _Becoming Someone Else, Somewhere Else_).

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**Chapter 1**

My name is Carina Black. I was named after the constellation which houses the second brightest star in the night's sky: second only to the dog star, Sirius. The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black was notorious for naming each member of the family after some cosmic entity, and although my father disliked being a part of that so-called nobility, he decided to stick to the tradition, only honoring his bloodline's custom solely for the sake of whimsy.

I was four years old when my life had changed. I was not old enough then to understand just how drastically my world was altered that night that the full moon glowed orange in the August night. I had been around my Uncle Moony on nights like this countless times before. Sure, he looked a bit different than he usually did by day. His limbs were longer and more animal like, and his nose was pointed and sometimes got caught by something as it followed its scent in the air, but he was still the same man, just as human. Usually he sat by me as I played on the floor and he gnawed on something hard and chewy. But this night, he was not the same as he had been the previous times I had been around when he transformed. We all sat on the couch in the living room: me, my mother, my father, Uncle Prongs, Aunt Lily, and little Harry in her lap. He was a few months younger than I was. Uncle Moony sat in an arm-chair across from us. A light patter fell onto the window sill as it began to drizzle outside, although there were hardly clouds in the sky, allowing the moon to light up the darkness outside. I crawled over a few adult laps as I made my way toward the window to watch the rain, but my father wrapped an arm around me and drew me close to him.

"Daddy, let me go!" I said playfully, but I felt his grip tense. This was not a loving, playful gesture he had made. I looked up at this face and his pupils were like pinpoints as he stared across the room at the werewolf, a vein just barely visible on his forehead.

"Marilyn," he said softly, not moving his head toward her. "Take Carina to the back bedroom. Slowly." He handed me to my mother, still not moving his gaze away. "Lily, you and Harry also." I looked over at Uncle Moony. His eyes were completely black as they rested on me, devoid of any readable emotion. I let out a small whimper. I had never seen such coldness looking back at me from that furry, once friendly, face. My father then looked at me and placed a finger over his lips, signaling me to stay quiet as my mother lifted me off the couch and tiptoed toward the back of the house, Aunt Lily and Harry following right behind us. I looked over her shoulder as she held me tightly and caught a glimpse at my Uncle Moony, still sitting up straight in the arm-chair. I saw his upper lip curl into a snarl before we turned the corner into the small, spare bedroom. The door clicked into place softly as Harry and I were placed onto the twin bed in the middle of the dark room. Aunt Lily turned on a lamp beside the bed while my mother locked the door with a furtive clunk. They had their wands out, pointed toward the doorway, as if they were waiting for someone to knock it down.

I could hear my father and Uncle Prongs talking in the other room. Softly, gently. "Remus. It's Sirius. James is here, too. You will not hurt us."

"It's alright, Remus. Everything is fine." The rain began to pick up outside as it hammered down against the windows, the wind blowing along the side of the house, rattling the shutters. I looked outside and saw that the moon was still perfectly visible, glowing a deep orange-red. Then the sky lit up with a giant flash of lightning as thunder boomed, shaking the entire house. Harry let out a wail from beside me, frightened from the enormous sound. Then there was a commotion that came from the hallway. He was not the only one who was disturbed by the roaring of the storm. A low, long growl was followed by what sounded like a dog fight. Things were falling to the ground and shattering as teeth clanged together and claws were swiping. Harry was crying at the noise and Lily ran over to comfort him, but the monster outside the room had already heard him, and made its way to attack. There was another yelp, then the sound of heavy strides bounding toward the door. It hit once, like a wrecking ball had collided with it, nearly ripping the door frame away from the wall, but it held. Aunt Lily grabbed me and Harry close to her and huddled behind the other side of the bed as I watched my mother disappear, and a giant, black, cat-like beast take her place. She hunched over, digging her back feet deeply into the carpet and protracting her claws, ready to pounce. The monster hurled himself at the door a second time. Splinters of wood flew in every direction as the creature burst through, ripping the door clean off its hinges. The black panther attacked, digging its claws deeply into its chest, causing him to bark with pain. His eyes glowed a deep red as I peeked past Aunt Lily, trying to keep my whimpers muffled. He flung the cat from him as he caught my eye, baring his enormous yellow fangs. He jumped at me, his body stretching through the air as he leaped across the bed. His mouth was open, easily wide enough to fit my entire head inside. A pair of antlers stabbed him in the stomach, knocking him to the floor beside me. I scooted closer to Aunt Lily as I saw the black dog grab his hind leg and pull him away. With one swipe of his giant, mangy paw, the werewolf caught my pants leg and dragged me into his mouth.

I did not realize the pain of his jaws sinking into my leg until after those three enormous animals, the dog, the panther, and the stag, finally had him subdued. Aunt Lily was shrieking at the sight of the blood soaking into the ivory carpet. I felt my neck becoming like jelly, and it was difficult to hold my head upright on my shoulders. I let it flop to the side as my vision became blurry.

"Can she apparate?" I heard my mother say in a frenzy as my father hoisted me into his arms and wrapped a hand tightly around my thin, bleeding leg.

"She will have to if we want to save her leg," my father said. "James, keep an eye on Remus. Hopefully he will stay knocked out until sunrise. We will go straight to Saint Mungo's. Send a patronus if anything happens." James nodded, and with a faint _pop_ we were gone.

We landed sloppily in front of what looked like a run-down brick building. My head was becoming heavier and heavier to keep up, so I let it rest on my father's shoulder as he held me closely to him, one arm carrying my small body while his hand was still wrapped around my leg, keeping the blood from escaping the massive bite wound. We walked straight through one of the windows and were greeted by a petite witch whose kind smile turned into utter concern. "First floor, Creature Induced Injuries!" She said urgently. My parents nodded and as the bright fluorescent lights buzzed and shined down warmly on my clammy skin, I slumped in his arms as I passed out.

"The silver and dittany has healed the wound, and her leg will be fine. I have given her some Valerian root, to counteract the shock. She just needs to rest now," a deep, gentle voice said from the foot of my bed.

"That's good news," I heard my mother say in a sigh of relief. "But what about—" her words trailed off, and I heard the Healer expire deeply.

"She will be plagued by lycanthropy for the rest of her life. I wish I could tell you that we have found a way to cure this, but sadly we have not." My eyes fluttered open slightly, and I could see the silhouettes of my parents, their heads down as they gazed toward the floor, my mother's face in her hands. "There is a potion, however."

"Yes, we know about the potion," my father said, sounding utterly defeated. I allowed my eyes to close again as I drifted back to sleep. I thought I heard a faint sob escape from my mother, a sob that, for some reason, seemed all too familiar.

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**Author's note: **Hey everyone! I hoped you liked the first chapter of my new story! I have so many things planned for this story and I know it will make you go "SAY WHAAAAAT?!" I want this fanfic to go big. I'm talking HUGE. ENORMOUS. GIGANTIC. So if you would please oblige me, I would love it if you would review for two reasons: 1) People read stories with reviews, and 2) I love reading what you think about this story! So pretty please with sugar on top, review for me and I will be eternally grateful! Keep an eye open for the following installments of _Black and Grey_.

Oh, and by the way, in case you did not know before (though the beginning of this chapter was a pretty plain giveaway), this story is a sequel from my earlier story _Becoming Someone Else, Somewhere Else_. If you have not read it, I highly suggest giving it a quick peak. It is actually pretty great, if I do say so myself. Without having read it, a few things in this story may be a bit confusing (like why Sirius, James and Lily are still alive, and why the course of time has completely changed). Humor me.


	2. 2: Letters and Wands

**Author's Note:** Hey there! Nothing really all that important I wish to say up here except for the fact that I am extremely picky and that my perfectly centered chapter heading is shifted a centimeter to the left without having a little insignificant note at the top. So I hope it does not bother you that I am wasting space up here when you could already be reading down there. Okay, don't mind me. Just trying to get my chapter to look the way I want it. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 2**

Harry and I received our acceptance letters from Hogwarts on the same day. We lay cozily outside, our bodies resting against each other, hiding from the sun beneath an enormous, blossoming hydrangea bush in the front lawn of his house (which was only a few yards away from my own front lawn). The sweet, flowering scent filled and tickled my nose as the breeze carried it lazily across my face. I heard two distinctive screeches from above, along with the beating of wings as the post owls prepared to land on the open window sill right above our heads. I saw their feathered tails twitching as they maintained their balance on the sill, and I figured that having my face right underneath those tails might not be the best of ideas. I darted out from underneath the bush, my summer-kissed skin peeking out from beneath my shorts. Harry followed closely behind, nearly knocking me down as he stumbled out of the oversized blossoms. The grass needed a good mowing, enveloping my feet as I skipped through it with bare feet. My mother insisted that I wear long socks if I ever was to go out the front door, but I disregarded her instructions today. It was much too incredibly hot outside for any clothing that was the least bit unnecessary. After all, I was not ashamed of the scar that wrapped and swirled around my leg. I grew up with it, and it was as much a part of me as was my black, rippling, untamed hair and my silver eyes.

I slung the front door open and a rush of cool air hit my face as I entered the house. It was at least thirty degrees cooler inside than the blistering heat outside, but I could not bear to be cooped up. The outdoors was where I felt the most comfortable. The two giant owls were perched on the window, one a tawny owl, and one a barn owl, each with vanilla-colored envelopes tied to their legs. Harry and I each untied one, and the birds gave us light nips on our fingers before the beats of their wings took them away and back into the sky. Although I already knew what the letter contained, I ripped it open eagerly, nearly tearing the parchment that was tucked inside. Harry was a bit more careful with his, but not much. My eyes skimmed over the carefully hand-written words of the letter.

_Dear Ms. Black,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of necessary books and equipment. Term begins September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

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We arrived in Diagon Alley with a succession of _pops_. First, Dad and James, then me and Mom, and Lily and Harry last. The cobblestone roads were flooded with witches and wizards of all ages, carting around large bags filled with books and goodies, or flattening their noses up against shop windows, oo-ing and ah-ing at the next best (most expensive) thing. We all grabbed hands with each other and proceeded through the crowd.

"Alright," my father spoke up loudly, trying to talk over the bustle of the excited horde of shoppers. "We will get the books first. Then we can go on to the fun part!" He said with a smile. By "fun part," he meant wands and pets. It took nearly an hour to gather and purchase all of the necessary school books, our arms overflowing with towers of textbooks, teetering from side to side. I looked around the bookshop, noticing all of the people who looked my age. I wondered if any of them would be in the same house as me, spending the next seven years by my side. I did not really care, as long as my best friend Harry was always around. Once we had finished, we squeezed out of the door of the shop and headed toward Ollivander's. Not to my surprise, we were not the only ones in there seeking a wand. I noticed two other people with their backs to us, a blond-haired boy and a girl with long, sleek black hair which flowed down her back, past her shoulders.

"I have just the wand for you, my boy," an old man said as he trotted from behind an enormous shelf with a long box in his hand. He took the wand out of the box carefully and held it out for the boy to take. "Hawthorne, unicorn hair, ten inches precisely. Give it a wave." Without hesitation, the boy flicked his wrist toward a vase sitting on the counter, and within seconds, a flower with glimmering silver petals erupted gracefully from its mouth. I could see from the side that a smile had creased his cheeks slightly. The old man looked pleased with himself, and then turned his attention to the girl. "But you, my dear. Hmmm." He trotted back behind the shelves and seemed to be rummaging through the numerous boxes, searching for a very specific something. He came out with three of the long boxes in his arms. "This one first. Maple, dragon heartstring, thirteen and a half inches." He handed it to her cautiously. She gave it a small wave, and exploded a lamp sitting on the countertop. Shards of ceramic and glass littered the counter and the floor. "That's not the one," he said as he took the wand from her and replaced it into its box. He picked up the second wand he had picked out. "Perhaps this one. Chestnut, unicorn hair, twelve inches." As soon as the wand touched her hand she let out a shriek. It seemed to have shocked her. "Not that one either. Let's try this one." He took out the last wand from his stash. "Elm, phoenix feather, eleven and three-quarter inches." She was hesitant to take it in her hand. She touched it quickly; making sure it was not electrified, and then grasped it. She waved it lazily toward the doorway to the back room, and the door flew off its hinges and out the window into the alley. Ollivander gave a gasp and snatched the wand from her hands.

"It's no use," she said softly with a sigh. Ollivander gave a quizzical expression as he looked her up and down a couple of times. Then a look of interest struck his face and he trotted back behind the bookcase again. He came out carrying a long grey box that had about an inch of dust covering it.

He opened the box slowly and with even more care than the last few wands, he slid it out of its velvet bed, and rolled it through his fingers, as if he were appeasing it. "Dogwood, thestral tail hair, thirteen and a quarter inches." He handed the wand to her cautiously, his interest peaking as she wrapped her delicate fingers around its base. With a slight wince, she waved it in the direction of the bookcase and from the tip of the wand came a thin stream of bright silvery light which landed on the side of the bookcase and etched elegant, intricate designs in the wood which shimmered brightly, bathing the walls around the shop in sparkling glints of light. His facial expression became that of astonishment as he gently took the wand from her fingers and placed it back into the box. "That will be fourteen galleons all together." The two students paid and walked by us as they exited the small, cluttered shop. I was too enthralled in the thousands of wand boxes that lined the walls of the entire shop to notice my mother's face as her gaze followed them out, her eyes first resting on the girl with a puzzled expression, and then the boy. Her eyes narrowed.

"Draco Malfoy. He seems much shorter than I remember him. The git," she said sharply under her breath. My father chuckled and elbowed her in the side. Ollivander turned around toward us after placing the previously unsuccessful wands back in their original places. He looked at me as if he were confused at seeing me, but then his face changed as he seemed to trace the outline of my unruly hair with his eyes. His eyes had a look about them as he examined me, as if he knew something of which I was unaware.

"This should be interesting," he said as he headed toward the opposite wall, rubbing his chin as he fingered the gold lettering on the boxes. He picked up two and headed back toward us. "This one first. Fir, unicorn hair, eleven and three-quarter inches." I took the wand in my grasp and waved it largely. An invisible force erupted from the tip and started bouncing all around the shop, barreling into the shelves and walls, knocking everything over and shattering things it collided with until finally exiting through a broken window. Ollivander seemed unfazed as he placed the wand back in the box and picked out the second one. "Cherry, phoenix feather, twelve and a quarter inches."

I took it in my hands, more warily this time, and as soon as I wrapped my fingers around it, it began to smoke and released a putrid smell of burning, rotted wood. I put it down quickly. Ollivander analyzed my face, the gears turning in his head. Without saying a word, he trotted off and hunted through an assortment of boxes. The lettering on the box was unreadable due to the vast amounts of dust covering it. "Cypress—" he paused for a moment, "thestral tail hair, fourteen and a quarter inches." I took the wand and waved it gingerly. The light that was glowing on the far bookcase made by the previous customer jumped away from the wood and danced around the room, looping delicately between us and finally circling me with its sophisticated swirls. I flicked the wand a second time and the silvery light absorbed into the tip, and the wand emanated a cozy warmth into the palm of my hand. His eyes glinted with amazement as a small grin appeared on his face. "I have only ever had those two thestral hair wands," he said with a sly chuckle, "and now I am glad to be rid of the both of them!"

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**Author's note: **So that was chapter 2! Oh, gosh. What could it all mean? Stay tuned for the next chapter and remember to do me that enormous favor we discussed earlier: Review, review, review! Thank you, dearies!


	3. 3: Prophecy

**Author's Note: **I sort of enjoyed writing this chapter. I hope you sort of enjoy reading it.

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**Chapter 3**

The floorboards creaked from beneath her as she adjusted in the rickety wooden chair at a table in the corner of the room. It seemed that with every movement she made, no matter how minute or insignificant, the floor underneath threatened to cave in. She sat up straight, not wanting to move a muscle, but her face twitched ever so slightly every now and then. Her hair was large and unkempt beneath a bright purple shawl with intricate bead-work weaving its way around the worn fabric. She wore vast amounts of over-sized jewelry around her neck and arms, so much so, in fact, that it seemed to add five pounds of weight onto her. Perhaps not the best of accessory choices for sitting in the upstairs room in the Hog's Head Inn, her safety in danger as the hazard of falling straight through the floor and into the barman's lap beneath was imminent.

Footfalls were heard making their way up the stairs, and the woman adjusted her overly large spectacles on the bridge of her nose. Her jewelry clanged together and the floor beneath her creaked loudly, warning her to stop fidgeting. She remained seated as Albus Dumbledore strolled into the room with a warm smile on his finely wrinkled face.

"Ah, Sybil Trelawney. How very nice to meet you," he said kindly as he extended his hand to greet her. Her hand trembled as she shook it, a very strange and awkward appearance in her face.

"I would stand, Headmaster, but as you can see, I am dreadfully afraid of falling straight to the floor," she said, her voice sounding airy and far off. Dumbledore raised one of his hands as he pulled out the chair opposite her.

"No need to stand, Sybil. This is merely a friendly meeting among acquaintances." She smiled meekly as her eyes shifted back and forth around the room, as if she were watching the ghost of a cat climbing the walls of the room.

The Headmaster of Hogwarts was on an errand this evening in regards to the school subject of Divination, one with which he wanted to do away completely. However, the woman sitting in front of him was the great-great-granddaughter of a very talented and gifted Seer, Cassandra, and he owed it to the powers that be to allow her to formally apply for the position of Divination Professor. After a long while went by of listening to her talk about uninteresting and far-fetched things such as reading someone's future by examining the split-ends of their strands of hair and seeing into their soul by exploring the positions of the bubbles remaining in the tub after a bath, Dumbledore sighed. As he had expected, this woman expressed none of the gifts which her great-great-grandmother had possessed. He thanked her for her time, explained to her that he did not expect the position to work out, and turned to leave. Suddenly, a bony hand grabbed his wrist, and he turned quickly to see that her eyes had completely glassed over and her mouth hung open widely. At first, it sounded like static was escaping her throat, but then she began to form words in a low, almost demonic voice.

"The return of the Dark Lord is nigh. In a decade and three years' time he will seek revenge on those who thwarted him before. Their progeny will suffer his vengeance, cursed and disfigured beneath the moonlight. Two halves will be reunited in the darkness once more, but only one will survive while the other falls at his hand." She gasped as if an invisible hand was squeezing her windpipe shut, and then she dropped her face in her hands and breathed heavily. Dumbledore took his hand and placed it on her shoulder as she jumped slightly under his touch. He seemed at a loss for words for a moment, still shocked at the prophecy to which he had just been a witness. Then the composure returned to his face.

"I think I may be able to work something out with that teaching position, Professor Trelawney. That is, of course, if you are still interested."

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We huddled in a tight group in front of the giant oak doors of the Great Hall. Harry and I were standing toward the back of the crowd. Our boat was the last to cross the Black Lake, because some boy said he saw something in the water, a mermaid or a squid, and when he leaned over to catch another glimpse, he toppled into the dark water. It seemed that something below had grabbed a tight hold around his ankle, and was fighting us as we struggled to hoist him back into the boat. So, naturally, we were a little late, and as a consequence, were stuck in the back, craning our heads to get a look at the witch standing in front addressing the group. She was a tall, slender woman wearing deep emerald robes and a pointed, velvety hat that sat perfectly atop her head. Even from as far from her as we were, her voice carried loudly to our ears.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," the woman said, her face stern and very business-like. "I am Professor McGonagall. The start of term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin." I felt my body begin to tense and I started shaking. Both of my parents were in the Gryffindor house, but I had Slytherin blood running through my veins. Both sides of my family happened to be the most pure of blood lines, and only two chess pieces on the whole board were led astray. What if I am a Slytherin after all?

The group began to move forward as the enormous doors ahead of us opened slowly. My feet felt like lead while my legs felt like jelly. Harry noticed my unsteady gait and he looped his arm with mine, attempting to help me walk more easily. Once inside, the heavy doors slammed behind me and I saw at the very front of the Hall, an old, ragged, black hat sitting sloppily on a stool. It looked worn, and had rips and tears all over it.

"That's it?" I whispered to Harry, unconvinced. Harry shrugged as he tried to get a better look. "How is that thing supposed to—" I was cut off by a loud, gruff voice, seemingly escaping from a tear on the front of a hat near the brim. Was that… its mouth? He began to sing a song, quite on key, about the noble traits of each of the houses. He somehow managed to make Slytherin sound a little less unappetizing, but I still remained disbelieving. After his song was over, the witch in green pulled out a long list of names and started with the first.

"Abbot, Hannah!" She called, and a fair-skinned girl with pigtails made her way to the stool. She sat down and the hat began to mumble things, analyzing the thoughts in her head. We were going by alphabetical order! My name was going to be soon, but I was sure there were at least five names before mine. The Sorting Hat yelled in its same brusque voice 'HUFFLEPUFF!' and the girl hopped off the stool and skipped toward one of the tables. "Black, Carina!" I looked around for the next student who was supposed to be going up to the stool. What was taking them so long? Then a sharp elbow dug into my said and Harry shoved me forward. Was it my turn already? A few people giggled at my startled expression, but many of them were too nervous to even notice. I took my place on the stool and the hat was placed on my head. It slid down passed my eyes, and I was honestly relieved to be seeing nothing but dark, dingy fabric instead of the sea of faces all watching me. I heard a voice talking softly into my ear.

"Hmm, very interesting. Very interesting indeed. You are very cunning, sharp-witted, and your blood is the epitome of purity, as are your virtues. You are also bright, and loyal, and your head is littered with graces and humor. Oh, but I see secrets. Dark ones. But you believe they are what make you so unique! And a unique one you truly are, but where to put you?" I closed my eyes, the darkness suddenly beginning to frighten me. At this point, I did not care where he put me, as long as he did it quickly. "GRYFFINDOR!" He shouted, and light flooded my eyes again as the hat was removed from my head. Applause erupted from the table to my right and I trotted over to sit by two, tall red-heads. One of them slapped me on the back, congratulating me, nearly knocking the wind out of me as I realized I has been holding my breath. I was relieved, not only to be placed in my ideal house, but to also have all the eyes in the room now staring at somebody else.

More students were sorted, including a few who joined the Gryffindor table. One girl named Hermione Granger sat down beside me, her hair even wilder than mine. After the applause died down for this new bushy-haired Gryffindor, the next name was about to be called. McGonagall examined the name for a few seconds, pursing her lips, as if unsure of the name she was seeing. She cast a quick glance at Dumbledore, who then just gave her a faint nod, and she continued. "Grey—" she said, sounding as if she were cutting off the word, "Cassiopeia!" She finished the name much more confidently than she had started it. A black-haired girl walked shyly up to the stool and sat down as her sleek locks snaked and twisted down her back in perfect ringlets. My eyes widened as they rested upon her. It was if I was staring into a mirror; a mirror with much better hair. The hat barely sat on her head for a few seconds before calling out "SLYTHERIN!" and the girl made her way over to the table farthest from where I was sitting on the other side of the Great Hall. My gaze followed her all the way to her seat. After her back was to me, I tried to meet Harry's eyes as he was still in the crowd waiting to be sorted. I wondered if he had noticed her as well. Had he seen what I had just seen?

This girl had my face, and if I wasn't mistaken, Cassiopeia was a constellation.

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**Author's note: **SAY WHAAAAAT? I told you it was going to get interesting. Gosh, I feel kind of guilty that I made it this interesting this soon into the story. I kind of wanted your mouth to water a little more before I just handed over the big juicy steak. Oh well. You still don't know who this Cassiopeia mystery Slytherin is, so I won't sweat it. PLUS, I have even more "SAY WHAAAAAT?" moments in store!

So if you enjoyed this chapter, or either of the chapters before this one, please, please, PLEASE review. I would be eternally grateful and it would mean the world to me to get feedback from my readers. Anyway, keep an eye out for the next installment, and until then, stay classy, San Diego.


	4. 4: Malfoy and the Mirage

**Author's Note: **Hello, all! Here is Chapter Four! I am dreadfully sorry that it took so long to install. But, seriously, let me tell you a bit about the last few weeks I have had. I graduated from Nursing School, then I went to Disney World, and now I have been waiting two weeks just for the state to clear me so I can take my licensing exam and if I don't get to take it soon, I think I might commit some sort of felony. I do not like to play games under any circumstances. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

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**Chapter 4**

I could not find Harry in the sea of faces that formed in the middle of the Great Hall. It seemed much more overcrowded and cramped in the group of first years now as I looked on from the outside. I remained grateful that I was no longer in that crowd, waiting to be sorted, my fate lying with some mangy, old hat. I craned my head over to the other side of the room again, toward the Slytherin table, boring my eyes into the back of the girl's sleek, black head.

Could I possibly have just been imagining it? I was feeling a bit light-headed when I sat down after being sorted, along with feeling nauseated and having to pee very badly. Maybe those feelings of illness had messed with my brain a little bit, made me hallucinate. After all, how much could this mystery girl really look like me with a head of hair as silky and shiny as _that_. There was simply no comparison, I convinced myself. I decided to turn my gaze from her and watch the remainder of the sorting.

"Malfoy, Draco!" McGonagall called loudly. A boy strolled through the crowd and sat on the stool with an air of nonchalance and something close to arrogance. His hair was so blonde it looked silver beneath the dim light of the candles floating in midair above us. It was shiny, too, and slicked back so finely that the reflection of the stars from the bewitched ceiling twinkled dully off of his head. The sorting hat merely hovered over him before calling out "SLYTHERIN!" and he hopped toward the opposite end of the room and sat down beside the mirage of myself. He smiled at her sweetly, a smile that barely peaked through that arrogant shell, barely even skimming the surface. Had I not seen that tiny glimmer for that fraction of a second, I might have thought that this newly sorted Slytherin, Draco Malfoy, was a cold, dull snake.

Harry plopped down beside me at the Gryffindor table after he had been sorted. The giddy, careless expression on his face as he took his seat told me that he did not make the connection that I had made just a few minutes ago. So it seemed likely to me that I had, indeed, been mistaken about the girl who had my face, and I decided to let it go. Once the remainder of the group was sorted (the last being placed in Slytherin house), Dumbledore stood up and raised a hand to the Great Hall, which quickly fell under silence.

"The very best of evenings to you all!" Dumbledore began. "To our new students, welcome, and to our returning students, welcome back. As your Headmaster, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to Hogwarts, and it is my duty to make sure you are in an environment that is safe. Having said that, the Forbidden Forest is strictly off-limits to students unaccompanied by an adult, except for those students who wish to die an untimely, painful, and possibly bizarre and unexplainable death." I furrowed my brow. That sounded almost comical, but I did not laugh as I looked around and no one else around me smirked. "Secondly, the trophy room on the third-floor will remain inaccessible for a while, as it has become infested with uncharacteristically ferocious nifflers. So, if you value your fingers and earlobes, I strongly suggest that you steer clear until we have the situation under control. Lastly," he said, clearing his throat, "I just want you all to be cautious as you roam the halls and grounds of Hogwarts. Furtiveness is a virtue that none of us should be quick to forget. Now, for just a few more words. Taradiddle! Earwig! Widdershins! Plimp!" He nodded and turned to head back to his chair behind the front table. I decided that Dumbledore was a very interesting man.

Before I even noticed the gurgling noises rising up from my stomach, a vast amount of food materialized in front of me. Meat pies, breaded chicken, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, scalloped potatoes, candied pork, cakes and sweets of all kinds. I had to catch a string of drool as it dripped from the side of my mouth. I hoped that nobody had seen, and I was reassured when everyone was just as excited and perplexed as I was at the sight of the feast that was now sitting in front of us.

"What do you think Dumbledore meant about that whole 'being cautious' bit? Surely it is not dangerous at Hogwarts," I said to Harry, trying to say it so only he could hear, but more of yelling it instead because of the noise all around us from the chatter of the students. Harry shrugged as he spooned a pile of potatoes into his mouth.

"He probably means the centaurs," said a squirrelly voice from beside me. I turned to see the bushy brown-haired girl who sat beside me, Hermione. I gave her a puzzled look. "I read that the Forbidden Forest has an entire herd of them living in there. Dumbledore has a treaty with them that they can stay there as long as they don't make themselves known to us. They are very intelligent creatures, centaurs, but I hear they can be somewhat moody, especially with the changing positions of the moon." She seemed to love to hear herself talk. It did not bother me though. I enjoyed listening to other people's knowledge. She continued to talk to me, but somehow my eyes drifted away, past her bushy hair. I was sure the two of us looked one in the same. Someone with bad eyesight may have mistaken us for a bramble bush sitting in the middle of the Great Hall. "What about you?" She said. What had she just asked me about? I jerked my gaze away. I had apparently been staring at the back of the blonde boy's head at the opposite side of the room.

"What about me?" I said innocently. I honestly had not meant to tune her out. Hermione just giggled.

"I'm muggle-born. My parents are dentists. They have no idea about this whole magic thing. What about you?" She smiled and I noticed her front teeth were somewhat large.

"Pure-blood. Not the Slytherin kind, though."

"Your last name is Black?" She asked. I nodded and her eyes widened. "Oh, goodness! So you might as well be famous! I mean, your parents are. I read about them and how they defeated You-Know-Who." For a muggle-born, I was very surprised at all the things Hermione knew about, but I could not help but roll my eyes. I hoped she had not seen. I did not want to be known as the daughter of the Blacks. I wanted to be known as Carina.

"I suppose you do a lot of reading then?" I asked, trying my hardest not to sound irritated. She nodded excitedly as she nibbled on a biscuit.

"I have already read all of our required text for the term!" She said. I think she realized that perhaps she sounded a bit too eager then, and she lowered her head in embarrassment.

"That's bloody awesome!" I said. "Perhaps we could study together, since you already know everything for the whole year!" I said with genuine interest. She smiled at me and returned to her plate of food. I turned to Harry in hopes of starting a conversation, but I could tell that he was in no condition for talking, as he shoveled heaps of food into his mouth. I found it a miracle that he was able to even chew.

The clicking of heels carried to my ears over the noise of the crowd and I was tapped on the shoulder by a piece of rolled parchment. I turned around to see a thin witch dressed in green, Professor McGonagall, peering over me as I sat. The cold expression on her face melted as she gave a small, toothless smile.

"Good evening, Professor," I said meekly, mildly intimidated by her stature as it towered over me.

"Good evening, Miss Black. I wish to relay a message from the Headmaster. He has requested you meet him after the feast in the trophy room." My eyes widened as I grabbed my earlobes. Professor McGonagall tittered. "Not the trophy room on the third-floor. That one," she said as she pointed her scroll to the back of the Great Hall where a doorway was carved into the stone wall. Before I could accept, she was already headed back up to the front table. I wondered what Dumbledore could possibly want, but then I allowed myself to stare off again, my eyes once more resting on the back of Draco Malfoy's perfectly combed head.

* * *

**Author's Note: **It's a tad bit short, I know. It is more of a filler, I guess. The next one will be even better and more exciting! I promise. I hopefully it won't take me a month to post it. So, you know the deal! Review, review, review! We are trying to make this go big, so please help a sister out. Love you all!


	5. 5: Twins

**Author's Note: **Rubbed this chapter out pretty quickly, considering it took nearly a month for the last one. Just chilling over here enjoying the summer before the real work begins. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's not very exciting like I promised, but I have to lead into it all! Keep reading the installments and I am telling you that it will get better and crazier and everything in between!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

After the feast was over, once everyone had clearly overstuffed themselves on overstuffed baked potatoes and towers of sweets and the dirtly plates had magically disappeared from the long tables, the house prefects called from all around the Great Hall, "Follow me, Ravenclaws!", "This way to the Hufflepuff Common Room!", "Slytherins, single file, please!" A red-haired fifth-year student who looked very serious (and perhaps a bit pompous for my taste) called loudly over the noise of the emptying Great Hall, a glinting, golden badge pinned neatly and perfectly to his robes.

"Gryffindors! Follow me to Gryffindor Tower, and keep up! I will not send a search party if one of you lot gets distracted and becomes lost. This way! And watch the staircases!" I stayed in the back of the group, not following as they filed out, wondering how I was going to find my way to the Common Room all by myself after my meeting with Dumbledore. I grabbed my robes in my fists and began to fidget, becoming plagued by anxiety. Harry brushed my arm as he walked past.

"See you in the Common Room. And tell me everything Dumbledore says!" He said to me, and then disappeared in the crowd as all the Gryffindors filed out of the Great Hall, leaving me standing all alone in the enormous hall. I sighed deeply, and headed to the trophy room in the back, my footfalls bouncing off of the walls.

Dumbledore was in a corner of the room, fingering name plaques and trophies gingerly as he strolled slowly along the shelves. He brushed dust off his fingers as he turned around to face me. "Forgive the dust, Miss Black," He said as he swept his fingers along a trophies, leaving a streak along its gold body. "This is where the oldest trophies from the school are kept. The third floor hold newer relics of victories. Right beside you," he pointed to a glass case to my right, which housed back and white pictures and silver plaques, "is the first quidditch game ever played at Hogwarts. It lasted for two days straight until we realized that the snitch was not even released. Of course, within five minutes, the snitch was caught and the game was over." He chuckled softly. "It was, indeed, a time of trial and error." I looked at the picture, almost nonvisible through a thick coat of dust and grime. Two house teams, Gryffindor and Slytherin, posed together with obvious reluctance, all of the players looking worn out and irritated, except for one. A squirrelly looking Gryffindor was knelt down in the front, the snitch glinting and twitching in his hand and had an expression on his face of pure enthusiasm. "I'll have to have a chat with the house-elves. They seem to have neglected this room. It used to shine."

"It looks shiny enough to me, sir," I said softly. "Professor McGonagall said that you wished to see me."

"Yes, Miss Black. I do wish to speak with you for a moment before you get settled into your new life here at Hogwarts. I wish to discuss with you what we will do about your affliction during your stay here." He said. I was a bit startled. I honestly had paid no thought to what I would do about my transformation. It was never a big deal to me. I turned every month and I stayed indoors and played with Harry. It was what I had known my whole life, and was no different or any less natural to me than breathing.

"I take the potion every month, sir."

"Yes, I am aware of your Wolfsbane regimen. And although I know that you are perfectly safe to be around during your transformation, we must not let your fellow classmates know about your affliction. I wish people were not so scared or judgmental of those with your condition, but sadly, that is not the case." He said as he walked closer to me.

"So what do you propose? I cannot just stay in the dormitories if I am to keep my transformations secret." For some reason, I was becoming irritated with Dumbledore. I hated it when I was treated like I was not normal. I felt perfectly normal. I could tell that he sensed my growing frustration with the subject.

"We have dealt with this situation before, actually. We have refurbished the Shrieking Shack—"

"The Shrieking Shack? That place is terrifying to even look at! You are going to stash me in the most haunted building in Britain?" I felt my face becoming hot. Dumbledore touched my arm gently. His touch was mildly soothing.

"The Shrieking Shack is not haunted, my dear. The rumor started back when your parents were here at Hogwarts. I encouraged the rumor so that nobody would come snooping around and accidentally discover—"

"Uncle Remus," I said softly. Dumbledore nodded. I felt myself calm down as I thought of my Uncle Remus. He went through this before I did.

"As I was saying, we have refurbished the Shrieking Shack and it is actually quite cozy in there now. And as a precaution, I will have Mister Lupin stay with you during the full moon each month, to keep you company. As I said before," he said, still softly and gently, "this is not for the safety of others, but for the safety of your well-being." I sighed, partly out of desperation and partly out of relief. I was glad that I would not have to be alone, and Remus was as good a companion as any. Even though Dumbledore said the Shrieking Shack was ghost-free, I was still hesitant for obvious reasons. The place looked like a murder-house from the outside. He smiled at me sweetly and began to shoo me off. I turned to head out the door, and then remembered something.

"Sir, I have no clue how to get to the Common Room." He smiled again, and led me out the door.

"I am sure we can find someone still about the castle who will be willing to show you the way." We walked out of the Great Hall and within minutes were greeted by a greasy-haired professor with two boys' robes clenched in his fists. "Ah, Professor Snape." He turned around sharply, a vein barely visible in his temple. The boys in his grip were smiling, not bothered by the professor's obvious anger.

"Good evening, Dumbledore. I just apprehended these mischievous miscreants," Snape said as he shoved the two boys toward us, their fiery red hair in untamed mops on top of their heads. They shared the same face.

"Mister Weasley, Mister Weasley," Dumbledore said as he nodded to both of them. "I will take it from here, Professor." Snape nodded and turned on a dime, down the hallway, mumbling some course words under his breath. "I see that you are starting early this year, boys. I hope it was nothing _too _dangerous."

"Just a few stink bombs, sir! Nothing but good, clean, smelly fun!" One of them said.

"Yeah! Snape just has his snake in a knot," the other said. "Thanks for bailing us out, Dumbledore."

"Who knows what he would have had us do for him in detention. The slimey—"

"Boys," Dumbledore interrupted, trying to avoid one of them saying something for which he would have to reprimand them. "You will escort Miss Black to the Common Room." The boys nodded. "And you will mind your tongues!" He gave them a sly wink and headed in the opposite direction. I was feeling unusually shy around these two boys, who seemed to be at least eight feet tall as they walked on either side of me. I had really only been around one young male specimen, and I had known him my whole life. Now I was stuck in the middle of a red-haired sandwich and I had no idea how to react. What do I do with my hands? Should I run my fingers through my hair? Ouch, no. They'll get stuck. I'll just pretend they are Harry. Two big red-headed Harry's. We reached a staircase on the second floor, when it started to move.

"This seems to happen more often than it should!" One of them said.

"It's alright. We can just go the other way," the other said, then he looked at me with a smirk and winked. We walked up to a low-hanging portrait on the third floor, where a group of elderly wizards were sitting around a table, playing cards. They seemed not to be paying any attention to us as we stood in front of their portrait.

"Excuse me! Hey, can we get through here?"

"Hello? We need access to this passage!"

"Sod off!" One of the men said with a gruff, drunken voice as he turned around from the table with a scowl on his face. He returned to his hand of cards with an inebriated sway when one of the boys got an interesting gleam in his eye, noticing something seemingly hidden.

"Hey! What's that you've got in your pocket, mate? Ace of diamonds? You're a bloody cheater! He's cheating!" The other men at the table perked up, and one examined the man's pocket, picking out the hidden card. Shouts erupted from the portrait as the men started jumping around, casting hexes and swinging fists. The portrait swung forward, giving us entry to a hole carved into the wall, leading into a dark passage way. "Bloody wanker," one of them said as we crawled into the hole. "I'm Fred, by the way. That's George."

"You will find out, pigeon, that we are pretty good at this sort of thing."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I honestly had no intention of introducing Fred and George at all in this story, but I just love them so much and they are such great characters. They add great comic relief and I just love them. I love them. Have I said that already? Anyway, as I mentioned before, it's not so exciting, and it's even shorter than the shortest chapter, and I apologize, but stick with me! And if you are so inclined, give me suggestions for what you'd like to see! I'm game if you remember, review, review, review!


	6. 6: Close Encounters with Snakes

**Author's Note: **So here is chapter six. A little on the shirt side, but honestly these last few chapters have been filler, giving little bits of important information here and there as the story chugs right along. Keep reading and it all will come together!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

We only crawled in the dark, dank hole for a few minutes before the tunnel was tall enough for the boys to stand in. At thirteen years old, they were easily full grown men as far as I was concerned, but they seemed nice enough to me.

"So, your first couple of hours of being in Gryffindor and you are already into some real mischief! I see some real promise in this one, George," Fred said with a nonchalant quality in his voice, one to which I had already made myself quite accustomed over the last few minutes of being in their company.

"Some would call us bad influences, but I might say that you are quite lucky to have us on your side this early in the game!" George said as we approached what looked like the end of the tunnel. Thin strings of light outlined what looked like a frame on the wall, which I gathered to be the exit to the passageway.

"On my side?" I said meekly. The two of them just chortled as they poked their heads out from behind the portrait and into the empty corridor. Although our reasons for using the passage were innocent, I am sure that had someone seen, the tunnel would surely be closed off to curtail any further rule-breaking.

"Well of course! It's not every day you stumble across a first year that is well-mannered and into mischief!" The two of them started to step out of the portrait hole cautiously.

"Quiet as a church mouse but tricky as a fox!" A smile crept across my face as we exited the tunnel and found ourselves just feet away from the portrait of the Fat Lady. Had I really just made friends with a couple of third-years without even trying? "So, Carina, if anyone causes you any trouble—"

"If any slimy Slytherins start slithering about, you tell us and we will take care of it," George said as he hammered his fist into his palm and made a gesture like a pestle violently crushing into a mortar.

* * *

"Transfiguration with the Slytherins this morning! Starting the day off on the right foot," Harry said with an obvious hint of sarcasm in his voice. I shoveled one last heaping spoonful of egg into my mouth before we picked up our bags and books and headed out of the Great Hall to our first class of the term. There were four of us now. Me and Harry, of course, Hermione, who I had met last night at the feast, and yet _another_ red-haired Weasley, Ron, with whom Harry had gotten acquainted while I was trudging through a dusty tunnel with some other Weasleys. How many of them were there lurking about the castle?

"I have tried my hand at only a couple of transfiguration spells," Hermione began as we entered the classroom. She wrinkled her nose when she realized that there were no seats lefts toward the front of the classroom, and we settled for a desk three rows back, behind a familiar white-blonde head. Harry and Ron sat right behind us. "They were very simple, of course. Turning a thimble into a spool of thread, that sort of thing." She began to dig around in her bag when the boy in front of us turned around with a smirk on his face.

"Looks like you should have turned that thimble into a hairbrush," Draco Malfoy said as he laid eyes on Hermione's untamed hair. He began to laugh as the girl sitting beside him turned around also. Her eyes rested on me for a moment and I saw her for the first time up close. Except for the lack of freckles on her nose, we shared the same face, right down to the half-moon dimple on her right cheek. For a second, I saw something flash across her eyes as she looked at me (Interest? Curiosity?) but then it was gone as quickly as it came, and she chuckled along with Draco.

"Looks like the both of them need a hairbrush! Or maybe a heavy-duty iron. Tell me this. Did a tornado hit Gryffindor tower this morning while you two were getting ready?" She said, trying to hold in a snort as she giggled. I heard Harry mutter something under his breath, but I knew he was not going to start something on the first day of classes.

I rolled my eyes as they turned around. I looked at the back of her head for a moment, examining how each ringlet was so precise as the individual hairs spiraled perfectly around each other. Every curl was so perfect it was nearly sickening. I caught a faint whiff of her hair. It smelled like mint. Then I felt a strange sensation grow inside of me. It began to form in the pit of my stomach, then surged through the rest of my body like a heatwave. My blood felt hot as it rushed through my veins and my heart pumped what felt like lava. My lip curled up into a snarl. It was like her scent angered me, but this felt different from anger. It was an emotion I could not quite place. I had never wanted to attack so badly. In fact, the wolf inside me that had laid dormant for years under the hold of the Wolfsbane potion had now awakened. I shook my head, trying to calm the beast down. It was only the second of September, and the full moon was not until the twenty-fourth. I wiped my palms on my trousers and refocused my attention.

I had not even noticed the grey tabby cat perched in the front of the room until it jumped down and became a tall, slender witch whose hat was nestled perfectly atop her head. She cleared her throat in attempt to quiet down the noise of the classroom, but it appeared that just the sight of her transforming had been enough to grab the attention of every student in the classroom.

"Good morning, class. Welcome to Transfiguration, where you will learn how to turn forks into spoons and elephants into mice. Please open your textbooks to chapter one and we will begin our lesson," Professor McGonagall said as she began to scratch words on the chalkboard with a wave of her wand.

Hermione bent her head down low and pointed to the girl sitting in front of us. "She looks just like—"

"A Slytherin bitch," I cut her off. If this girl was not going to acknowledge the fact that we shared a face, then why should I?

* * *

A couple of days went by without any contact with the Slytherins. After Transfiguration, we shared most of the other classes with the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. It was not until Thursday afternoon when Gryffindor had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins, the last class of the day. When we entered the classroom, I made an effort to make sure that I was seated as far away from that girl as possible.

The professor began to lecture about jinxes such as Curse of the Bogies and the jellylegs jinx, when he stopped abruptly. Two people at the front of the class were carrying on a rather in depth discussion.

"Excuse me," the professor began. "I do not know what could _possibly _be a mosre intriguing subject than my lesson, but I believe that this is one of the most important subjects being taught at this school, and I will not have students who do not agree with my belief ruin it for those who do! Now, Mister Malfoy, I would like you to switch places with Miss Granger there in the back. She looks eager for your seat." The professor then gestured at Hermione who sat beside me. "Miss Granger, would you kindly sit up here beside Miss Grey." I looked at Hermione as she gathered her things. She looked conflicted; pleased that she got to sit in the front of the class, but not so pleased that she had to sit by a snotty Slytherin. She threw her shoulders back as she stood and walked to her new seat. I caught Draco's eye as he strolled toward me, scowling. He looked like he would rather be throwing up slugs than sitting beside a Gryffindor. "Perfect! Now would anybody else like to interrupt my class and have their ideal seating rearranged, permanently? No? Good! Let us continue discussing these _dastardly_ jinxes!"

Permanently? Sure, the back of Draco Malfoy's head was alright to look at, easy to get lost in a day dream, but I was not sure how much I enjoyed the idea of sitting beside him for the entire term. It was easy to pay attention when Hermione was sitting beside me. She was always sitting so erect and taking thorough, meticulous notes. It was like her posture and focus were contagious. But now that Draco sat beside me, slouched in his chair with his arms folded and his legs crossed, writing down a couple of words here and there, I found that I could not concentrate. Was it his bad sitting posture, or was it that one small instance where the sleeve of his shirt brushed my finger ever so slightly before he pulled away and worked from the very corner of the table? I convinced myself it was his posture.

My stomach started to growl as soon as the class was dismissed. I started to pack my bag and suddenly words came out of my mouth. "Sorry that you have to sit next to a Gryffindor," I said, not sure how to make it sound all the way sarcastic as I meant it. I honestly did not expect a reply from him.

"At least I am not the one who has to sit beside the bloody mudblood," Draco said as he slung his bag over his shoulder and trudged out of the classroom.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Gosh I am sorry if you are bored. I am leading up to the good stuff. My whole thing is that this story is going to cover all seven years and Voldemort doesn't even come back until year three. But in between that, I am going to develop whatever relationships these people have with each other as well as reveal some crazy crazy CRAZY stuff! Just stick with me and I promise you will not regret it. The next installment will be coming sooner than you think and it will be good. It will be. I promise you! It also won't be a short pansy chapter like the last few. So until the next one comes, favorite, follow, and review, review, REVIEW! Love you all.


	7. 7: Werewolf Sense

**Author's Note: **Not gonna lie, you guys. I'm pretty proud of this chapter. It is kind of short, but to the point and keeps you wondering! I hope you enjoying it, because I really think you will!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

My bones started to ache and my joints felt stiff and creaky after we were dismissed from Defense Against the Dark Arts on Tuesday. The Wolfsbane potion usually kept the pain and fatigue of the transformation at bay for the most part, but a few side-effects of the full-moon always seemed to slip through the cracks. I caught a whiff of mint as we gathered our things, preparing to leave, and I felt my lip curl up into a snarl again, just as it had the first day of classes. My blood started getting hot when Harry grabbed my arm playfully, then brought his lips to my ear for a whisper. My body began to calm from the distraction, something for which I was thankful. I did not need 'wolfy' coming out when I was already completely ready to just collapse on the floor from the weight of the rising moon.

"It's the full moon tonight," he whispered, as if it were breaking news to me.

"Yes, I know, Harry," I said, trying my hardest to keep the biding irritation away from my voice. The scent had now vanished and the beast inside settled down. "I can definitely feel it." We exited the classroom and I was immediately met by a familiar smell as we entered the corridor. It is interesting being a werewolf, because the sense of smell gives much more information than sight, especially as the full moon draws nearer and those lupine characteristics double in intensity. Uncle Remus was somewhere in the castle. We nearly made it to the Great Hall when we found him, standing in the middle of the hallway.

"Ah, there you are, Carina. Hello, Harry," Remus said. "Well, the sun will be setting in just a little over an hour. We best be off." I felt my stomach growl as the hunger pains began to eat away at me.

"Can't we eat something first? I am starving," I asked, now gripping my torso, trying to keep the growls and gurgles to a minimum. When they escaped, they seemed to resonate off of the walls and echo throughout the castle. Remus held up a paper sack that bulged all over, overstuffed with food. It smelled like rolls and meat. My mouth watered, and I hoped the meat was cooked rare. I squeezed Harry's hand lovingly and headed out of the castle with my elder companion.

I anticipated that we would head in the direction of Hogsmeade, but instead we walked along the grounds, down a hill, toward an enormous, mangled looking tree. The scene seemed awkward and strange to me, and it was eerily quiet as Remus held out a hand at me, signaling me to stop in my tracks and not make a sound. He held out his wand and pointed it toward the tree.

"Immobulus," he said quietly. The tree was already still, but as the spell was cast upon it, it was as if it had become completely frozen in time, unable to even sway with the wind, not even a quiver of a leaf. He then gestured me over to the tree. "Hurry, now. The freezing spell won't last long. Crawl down into that hole at the base of the tree." I gave him an incredulous look. Were we really going to crawl in the dirt underneath a strange, mysterious tree that needed to be enchanted before it was safe to approach? He nodded at me, silently answering my question, and I reluctantly slunk into the crevice beneath the tree's enormous roots.

We walked through the tunnel in silence. It seemed to be at least half a mile long and reminded me of the passage in Hogwarts that the twins had showed me the week before. Though it was entirely underground and the walls were made of mud, it was very clean and smooth. It could have easily been mistaken for a bare hallway in an empty house.

"So what was up with that tree?" I finally asked as we approached the exit to the tunnel. I needed to talk about something, as I was getting increasingly anxious the closer we got to the Shrieking Shack. Remus chuckled slightly, and I could hear that there was effort behind it. The approaching full moon was taking its toll on him as well.

"The Whomping Willow. It is one hell of a nasty plant, attacks anyone who gets too close," he said as we hiked up a slope that ended at a trap door. I assumed that it had been planted there for a reason, so I did not beg the question any further. I just knew that I would not cross it if it was not completely necessary. "Here we are." He threw the trap door open and a cloud of dust billowed as we hoisted ourselves onto the wooden floor above. Although dust and dirt settled all over the place, Dumbledore was right. It was quite cozy, much cozier than anybody would have expected from the Most Haunted Building in Britain. The tapestry that covered the tall windows was flowing and whimsical with a swirling floral pattern, the woven flower petals seeming to sway along with an unseen balmy breeze. There were fluffy couched and chairs arranged neatly around the room with tasseled throw pillows and decorative blankets. There was even wallpaper that covered the once dingy walls, hiding the old, rotting wood with a scene of intricate twirls and rosebuds. After getting my feel for the new 'full moon hideout,' Remus chucked the bag of food to me, and I ripped it open ravenously, not even realizing the eruption of hunger that seemed to burst forth right out of me. Was this the wolf again, or did I just not know how hungry I really was? I sank my teeth into a hunk of meat (cooked so perfectly rare that a trickle of blood dripped from my bottom lip) and I noticed him looking at me strangely.

"Wha—" I said with an overly stuffed mouth full of food.

"You seem different to me," he said as he paced around the room, his footfalls making small clouds of dust rise from the floor. "You _smell _different." I swallowed the heap of meat and it went down my throat as an oversized lump.

"How so?" It amazed me how keen Uncle Remus's senses were, especially around the time of the full moon. I always noticed a change in my own, being able to smell supper from a mile away, or hearing my parents whispering to each other on the upper level of the house when I was lying on the edge of the yard, but Remus had his senses sharpened to a point that I could not even fathom. He could _sense_ things past his own five senses.

"You smell more like a wolf," he said, and I could tell that it was not just an observation, but it was a real concern. "Have you been taking your potion like you are supposed to?"

"Of course I have! Just like I have always been taking it." Remus paced for a moment, trying to work a puzzle out in his head that I did not see.

"Do you feel any different since you have been at Hogwarts? Perhaps it's just the freshness of the air out here in the country." I took another enormous bite of food, trying to think of something to say to him. He was the type that liked to be presented with a problem, and then presented the evidence so he could formulate an answer. He did not like to be kept guessing for longer than he had to.

"Well, there is one thing that I noticed," I said. I could see his ears perk up a little bit. "It is nothing, really. I just...I felt it inside me. Something made it stir within me. I felt like… _attacking_." He looked at me for a long moment, and sniffed the air, trying to catch a good whiff of my scent.

"That is what is different. I hope I am right in assuming that you did not act on that urge," he said with an eyebrow raised. I just nodded. "But there is still something—" His words trailed off as he peeked behind the curtain and out the window. The sky was glowing a deep dark orange-red as the sun began to dip behind the hills, its base making silhouettes out of the trees. It was nearly sunset. "When I walked onto the grounds of Hogwarts this afternoon I smelled something interesting...worrisome, actually. It was the smell of ferocious, voracious fierceness that was hungry for flesh and I prayed that it was not you that I was smelling. It was so potent that it made my eyes water."

"So what are you saying?" I asked, but I already knew what he meant. I just hoped that I had gotten the wrong impression from him. He cleared his throat as he walked away from the window and the curtain fell closed once more, bathing us in shadows.

"I am saying that there is another werewolf at Hogwarts."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Was it mean of me to leave it like that? I am sorry if you think that I am being unfair by leaving you with such a nasty, jagged cliffhanger, but that's what keeps you coming back for more! I want your mouth to water a little bit. So I really hope you enjoyed this chapter as it has been the most exciting/suspenseful/interesting one in a while. But like I said, I had to lead up to it all, and now that a big bomb has been dropped, and can work on making it explode! Oh right, and sorry it was the second shortest chapter of the story so far. So, if you enjoy the story (and I really hope you do, or else I will be very VERY sad and disappointed), please favorite, follow, and review, review, REVIEW! Love you all:)


	8. 8: Attack

**Author's Note: **Wow! I'm just getting these chapters out quick! Like BAM! Here's a chapter. BAM! Here's the next chapter. BAM! Take one more chapter! Yeah. I feel pretty good. So here it is. I hope you think it's good. I think it's pretty good. Well, enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 8**

The air was still and calm as it blew across my skin as I bounded through the forest, dodging trees and shrubs left and right. My legs stretched far as I ran on all fours, feeling the ground shift beneath my feet. I disturbed a nest of quails as I trampled through a thicket and they flew in all directions around my head. I snapped my jaws a few times in the air, hoping to maybe catch one in my mouth as they flew frantically away from me, but I was less concerned with feeding at the moment. I was more aware of the dire need to just _escape_, to keep running as far away as I could from something. But what? Why was I in such a panic to get away? I continued to dart through the woodiness of the Forbidden Forest, when I heard the sound of hooves approaching on my left. I slowed down and stalked low to the ground. Hooves in the Forbidden Forest could only mean one of two things: a unicorn or centaurs. I was not so interested in the first possibility. Unicorns are too fast to catch for a werewolf, and even if I had the audacity to try and run one down, I was already so tired from running for what seemed like hours for a reason that I could not even place. Centaurs, however, posed a bigger problem. I caught my breath as I crept behind a fallen tree, peering over the top as the hoof beats came closer. A large beast with a human torso and a chestnut-colored equine body emerged from the trees, an enormous hand-made bow in his hand, and a quiver stuffed full of arrows over his shoulder. I pricked my ears as he examined a patch of dirt where I had just stood. I watched him carefully, then, an arrow flew right past my head, barely missing my left eye by centimeters, and landed in a tree right behind me.

"Blast it!" said the lead centaur as others began to fall in line behind him. "Who shot that arrow?" Another centaur walked up beside the chestnut one. This one was black and had a long, mangled beard.

"I saw something moving over there," he said deeply, craning his head in my direction and inching closer to my hiding spot behind the fallen tree. The lead centaur grabbed his arm and jerked him backwards.

"You do not fire unless I give the order! What if it had been a thestral? Or a unicorn? Get back in line, Bane." He said as the black centaur followed orders and retreated behind him with the others. He continued to look at the ground, meticulously inspecting the earth. "Werewolf prints," he finally said. "I was correct in assuming that there is one loose in the forest. Find it, injure it, contain it, but do not kill it. It could be a foal from the castle." The centaurs, though sounding reluctant in protecting a human, acknowledged their leader's orders and headed off in different directions, their bows and arrows in hand. The chestnut lingered there for a moment, still and focused, listening to the rustling of the leaves in the trees, and allowing the breeze to bring faint scents into his nose. I remained motionless, trying to keep my breathing as still as possible.

As I watched him standing there, my mouth started to water. He was alone. His herd had gone on without him and he stood in front of me like a fawn abandoned by his mother. My human brain knew that centaurs are very intelligent and very dangerous creatures, one by itself is just as lethal as a group of them, but I had no access to that brain. All I knew was my instinct to kill, and now that my prey stood in front of me without back up, I desperately wanted to attack. I prepared to pounce, flexing my hind legs and digging my back claws into the ground for good traction as I still crouched behind the tree. He turned his head to the right and I leaped out from my hiding spot and dug my claws into his bare chest. He reared up as blood trickled from his skin and he neighed loudly out of pain. I tried to sink my teeth into the teasingly delicious-looking vein pulsating in his neck, but he slammed a fist into my face and reached into his quiver, reaching for an arrow. I heard hoof beats coming toward us as the rest of his army came to defend him against me. I took one more swipe at him, slashing into his muscular arm that held the bow, and then I toppled to the ground as he threw me off. He held his wound and attempted to crush me with his enormous hoofed feet. Arrows from all sides flew at me as I stood up and realized I was not going to have centaur for dinner. I bolted through an opening I saw through the firing arrows and ran deeper into the forest.

"Don't let it get away!" I heard one of them call. Arrows continued to fly, and I yelped as one caught my front leg. It bled, and it was painful, but I was still able to run. This fleeting instinct to escape immediate danger was different than it had felt before when I was running. This was a tangible threat. The other felt like an _idea_. After what seemed like hours, arrows stopped zooming past me. I ran for another mile before I slowed down. I perked my ears as I panted, listening for any signs of the centaurs pursuing me. I sniffed the air to catch a scent. They were south of me, headed west in their pursuit. I knew these creatures were highly skilled trackers, and staying in one spot was not an option. I continued moving stealthily through the forest, bearing through the pain that surged up my leg, until tiny rays of light peaked through the tops of the trees and I was finally able to think.

* * *

"It's sunrise. Wake up," Uncle Remus said to me. My eyes flew open as I jerked myself awake and glanced around the room. We were still in the Shrieking Shack and the sun was just visible as it peaked out from behind the small buildings of Hogsmeade. My mind was racing. "Are you alright?" he asked me, noticing that I was visibly disturbed. I felt myself become angry with him.

"I thought Dumbledore had you come here to keep me company. To make sure I was okay during the full moon. Where the hell where you last night?" I shouted at him. He had a look of confusion on his face.

"I was right here with you. Where else would I have been?" I did not understand. Then I looked down at my arm that had been struck by the arrow and I realized that I was uninjured.

"I was in the Forbidden Forest last night. I got hurt." I said, now feeling dazed and puzzled. Remus shook his head.

"You were here in the Shrieking Shack all night. You were thrashing about and whimpering in your sleep until the sun came up. I stayed awake and kept an eye on you. You seemed very disturbed." I had not actually been in the Forbidden Forest last night? It felt so real. I could feel the earth beneath my paws, I could feel the arrow embedded in my leg and the warmth of my blood as it dripped down from the wound. The urge to sink my teeth into that centaur's neck and drain him of all of the blood in his body was so strong. I have never wanted to kill so badly.

"It was very disturbing."

We headed back into the castle, trying to avoid anybody seeing us so that no questions would be asked. Once we made it to the Great Hall, Uncle Remus bid me goodbye and shooed me off. I tiptoed toward the staircase when I heard Dumbledore's voice echoing behind me. I would not have been alarmed if I had not heard a pair of heels echoing alongside him. I hid behind a statue to wait for them to pass. I knew that Dumbledore was aware of my situation, but I did not want anyone else questioning him about it. Who knows the sort of lashing he would get if people found out that he was harboring a dangerous creature in the castle.

"I do not wish to alarm you, but I am afraid it is quite urgent, Minerva. I received a message directly from the herd last night." Dumbledore said with a crucial tone of voice.

"A message from the centaurs?" I heard Professor McGonagall ask. Dumbledore hummed in acknowledgment. "Are they angry? Is there going to be an uprising? Oh, Albus—"

"They were tracking a werewolf last night in the Forbidden Forest," he said. Professor McGonagall made a quick gasp.

"A werewolf? On the grounds? Do you think it could have just been some sort of a misunderstanding? Perhaps Remus Lupin—"

"Remus Lupin was accounted for last night. I know of his whereabouts and I can vouch that it was not he who was wandering about the forest." Dumbledore said. I felt better knowing that it was not us, but now there were new questions to be answered. So Remus was right. There really was another werewolf at Hogwarts.

"Well, what happened while they were tracking it? Did they find it?" Professor McGonagall was starting to sound frightened.

"Yes, they found it. It attacked Magorian, and left him injured pretty badly. We allowed the messengers to take some supplies back to the herd, dittany and valerian, so they could properly attend to his wounds. Thankfully, I think he will make a full recovery. After that, I am afraid that they lost track of the creature, and by the time they found its tracks, the sun was already rising." McGonagall sighed. "The most disconcerting thing that they said, however," Dumbledore continued with a deepening seriousness in his voice, "is that when they first caught the scent of the beast, first began tracking it, they had never sensed such _ferocity_ before. It is truly disheartening that we are dealing with a real danger here at Hogwarts."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Uh-oh. You know something is bad when even Dumbledore is a little freaked out. I wonder what is going on over there at Hogwarts!I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I thought it was pretty interesting. So now that we have got the good parts going with the story, it's just going to get better and better! So, if you enjoy reading (which I am sure you do if you are this far in the story and probably would have stopped by now if you didn't like it), then please follow, favorite and review! I will be eternally grateful. Look out for the next installment and behave yourselves until then.


	9. 9: Duels

**Author's Note: **Oh, boy! It's Chapter 9!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

After classes were over for the day, I decided to head straight to Gryffindor tower, opting out of dinner so I could write a letter. Hermione and Harry were somewhat concerned, noticing that I looked fatigued and would probably benefit from a nice meal. Ron, however, was in the Great Hall with a full plate before the rest of us could even gather our things.

"Perhaps I will sneak you a roll or something," Harry said with a wink. I smiled at him thankfully. "But only if you tell me what is going on! You seem very distracted."

"We will see, Harry. Now go eat! I could hear your stomach growling from across the room!"

Once I reached the girl's dormitories, I plopped down on my bed. I had missed it so badly the night before, and I wanted nothing more but to just snuggle up next to my feather pillows, cover up with my down comforter and escape into sleep. But I didn't. Instead, I reached for a quill and parchment and started scratching the ink across the paper.

_Dear Uncle Remus,_

_I was just wondering if you heard what happened the night of the full moon. I overheard Dumbledore discussing it and it does not sound good._

_Awaiting your owl,_

_Carina Black_

I wondered if that was enough. I did not want to give anything away in my letter, just in case it was intercepted or delivered to the wrong person. I definitely did not want others to know of my I walked sluggishly across the castle to the owlery, my legs felt like lead, and my feet were like cinder blocks; each step took so much effort as I pushed through my fatigue. As I tied the letter to the leg of a giant tawny owl, I made a promise to myself that as soon as I returned to Gryffindor tower, I was going to allow myself to sleep through the rest of the week.

* * *

Nearly a month passed before I received a reply from Remus, and the reply was not worth much at all. It was barely a sentence, only saying "Be smart." What was that supposed to even mean? I did not bother writing him back. I would just have to wait a couple of days until the full moon again.

In Defense Against the Dark Arts, the professor stood at the front of the class with a crooked grin on his face.

"Good afternoon, class!" He said quite enthusiastically. We all gave half-assed greetings to him, mumbling under our breaths, mostly. Draco, however, who still sat next to me, did not say a word. "Today we are going to do something rather fun! We have learned a few spells and jinxes, as well as a number of counter-curses, and today I want us to practice them! Everybody stand up and gather toward the center of the room!" We all did as he said and with a flick of his wrist, all of the desks and chairs disappeared and it almost seemed as though the room had expanded. "Now, first we will try it with your partners. Go on, give the spells a try!" This meant I was going to practice spells on Draco. And he was going to practice on me. I just hoped that he did not give it to me extra hard because I was a Gryffindor. I was not sure how this was going to play out. Draco and I had not been ill-mannered with each other since term began, but then again, we had not exactly been cordial with each other either.

I kept my eyes on him as we bowed, then raised my wand. "Locomotor wibbly!" I said, and the purple thread erupted from my wand and nearly hit Draco in the chest.

"Protego!" He said as he made a slashing motion with his wand and deflected my spell. "Petrificus Totalus!"

"Expelliarmus!" I said, and Draco's wand flew out of his hand and landed ten feet away.

"Not bad for a Gryffindor," he said as he went to pick up his wand. I decided to take that as a compliment, and felt my face become warm. I hoped I was not actually blushing.

"Not bad yourself there, Malfoy." I had a small smirk on my face. I tried to wipe it off before he could see, but the evidence was still there as he returned to his position. I knew that he saw it. I cleared my throat and gained my composure. "Ready?" I asked. He nodded and threw the first spell.

"Locomotor mortis!" I string of blue light rushed toward me, but I deflected it quickly.

"Titillando!" I said and Draco attempted to use a shield charm, but missed, and my jinx hit him right in the face. He crumpled to his knees and held his stomach as he burst into laughter. I had been so used to seeing Draco the last few weeks as so serious and stony that this new side of him was infectious, even if it was only because he was under a spell. I stood over him for a moment, watching him on the floor, giggling and laughing, such an air of playfulness surrounding his body. I started to laugh too when he tried to say something between laughs.

"The counter-jinx!" He managed to say as he gasped. I had nearly forgotten that I needed to perform the counter-spell. I was so engulfed in his laughter that I almost could not focus. I muttered the anti-jinx and held out a hand to him. He grabbed it and I helped him to his feet, both of us still giggling somewhat. Me from the infectious nature of Draco's happiness, and him from the lingering effects of the spell I had just hit him with. He looked me in the eyes for a moment, and before I knew it, I was being thrown into a wall on the opposite side of the room. I saw spots for a moment as my head lolled from side to side.

"Miss Grey!" The professor said as he trotted over to me. "Fifteen points from Slytherin! Miss Black, are you alright?" He picked me up off the floor and steadied me on my feet. I saw Draco staring at me, startled by the sudden motion of my body being thrown. Then I looked past him and saw Cassiopeia, her wand still drawn and a look in her eyes of unsurpassable fury. I regained my composure and stepped aside of the professor, staring down the girl in front of me. It was as if her rage was being transferred to me. I held up my wand.

"Stupefy," I said through gritted teeth. A flash of red light exploded from my wand toward her. Cassiopeia dodged it and it landed against the blackboard, leaving a charred hole. My classmates all ducked out of the way.

"Everte Statum!" She said, her eyes burning red. I used a shield charm to deflect it. It was a little off, traveling toward the teacher rather than me, but I decided to keep him out of this.

"Flipendo!" My jinx hit her this time, square in the chest. She flew backwards and landed on the professor's desk. She did not hesitate before brandishing her wand again.

"Incarcerous." Ropes burst forth from the end of her wand and tangled me up in knots, causing me to fall to the ground. I dropped my wand on the way down, and could not wiggle free to arm myself. She held up her wand again, her eyes now completely black.

"Cr—"

"Expelliarmus!" Her wand flew from her hand. Draco had disarmed her. She looked at him, disbelieving. He shook his head at her, warningly. What was she about to say?

The professor looked stunned as he pointed his wand at me. "Evanesco." The ropes disappeared and I clambered to my feet. "Detention. For the both of you. Class is dismissed."

* * *

It was the night before the full moon and I headed up to the third floor after dinner for detention. I was already feeling the weight of the waxing moon sitting on my shoulders as I slung the door opened and was greeted by the professor.

"Ah, hello, Miss Black," he said with a certain tone of surprise, as if he had forgotten that he was expecting me. "Please, sit anywhere you like." There were only two chairs sitting around a table in front of his desk. I chose the seat on the left. "You will be writing lines for me this evening. I want you to write 'I will obey the rules and not attack other students in class.' I think that pretty much covers the point I would like to make. One hundred times ought to do it." I began scratching my quill across the parchment when the door swung open again. "Miss Grey, you are late. You will be writing fifty extra lines for me. Please sit." Cassiopeia grabbed the chair beside me and dragged it to the edge of the table, as far from me as possible, and I had no problem with that.

The next day, I received a letter during dinner. I wondered why it came in the evening instead of during the morning post. It took me a while to actually get it opened, as I felt like a giant shadow was cast over my brain.

_Carina,_

_I hate to say this, but something has come up. I will not be able to visit with you tonight. I am sure, however, that you will manage just fine. Just do as we did last time, and remember, the spell is Immobulus._

_Your friend,_

_Remus_

He decided to tell me this now, just an hour before the sun set? I felt my palms getting sweaty. I had started eating dinner because I was waiting for him to arrive. Now I had to go down there by myself, freeze that strange tree, and sleep in the Shrieking Shack alone. I ate one last bite, bid Harry goodbye, and headed out the front doors onto the grounds.

The sky was becoming orange as I crept beneath the roots of the Whomping Willow and made my way through the tunnel. I guess it had taken me longer this time to reach the end of the passage, because I transformed before I reached the Shrieking Shack. My haunches were almost too big to fit through the trap door. I whimpered a little in self-pity before climbing onto an over-sized couch, thankful for finally being able to sleep. The night before, I did not get out of detention until much past midnight, and that along with the anguish that comes with the rising full moon, I was exhausted. I closed my eyes, but for some reason, sleep would not come. It was frustrating, being so incredibly tired but unable to fall asleep. It was hours of the sleeplessness before I hopped off the couch and decided to pace, trying to tire myself out even more than I already was. My foot falls became like lead after a while, and I felt my eyelids finally growing heavier, as nestled myself back on the cushions, turning in circles like a small dog on a fluffy pillow would do. My eyes were only closed for just moment when I heard a long and vicious growl come from beneath the trap door on the other side of the room.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Ruh-roh.


	10. 10: The Second Full Moon

**Author's Note: **Here is Chapter 10! I am kind of excited about this chapter. I honestly did not intend on solving this mystery this early on in the game, but I figured that you all deserve it. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 10**

My eyes flew open as the scratching noises and low growls emanated from beneath the trap door. I slid off the couch and backed into a large shadow cast by a towering armoire in the corner of the room. My heart beat fast and my stomach was turning over itself in knots. What exactly was trying to get in here? I heard the trap door bang against the floor as it was forced open, and something large crawled through it. I remained as still and quiet as I could as the thing paced around the room, sniffing everything as it walked by it. A slight draft blew by my face and I recognized the scent immediately: werewolf. I peeked out from behind the armoire to catch a glimpse of the thing. The optimistic side of me hoped that it was just Uncle Remus making a late appearance, showing up to keep me company after all. I recognized quickly, however, that this speculation was far from the right one.

The werewolf growled louder as it came closer to me. How was I supposed to expect that it would not catch my scent? After all, I had already caught some of his already. It knocked over furniture, ripping cushions and pillows in its wake. It inched slowly closer to the spot where I was hiding. What was I going to do if it found me? The real question was _when_ it found me. A long, snarling snout inched its way right in front of my face, and I did not have time to think. I raised my enormous, clawed paw and smacked the werewolf's face as hard as I could. A loud yelp came from its mouth as I darted past it, trying to somehow find a way to escape this beast.

I headed for the trap door that led to the tunnel out of the Shrieking Shack. Surely it was easier to get away from something if you were not in a cluttered, old house that was like a bloody obstacle course. I nearly made it out before I was tackled to the ground. Claws started swiping at me as I tried to regain my footing. I found a paw as it intended to scratch me and I caught it in my mouth, biting down hard. The wolf let out a howl and I was able to get up. I tumbled down through the trap door, already panting. I could barely understand what was even going on. Not too long before I gained my balance, the other werewolf tumbled in after me. I bolted down the tunnel, eager for something that was not closed in and tight. I could make an escape in the open air. As I galloped through the passage, my pursuer was hot on my heels. I could feel its hot breath coursing down my back.

I barreled through the hole that exited beneath the roots of the Whomping Willow. I tiptoed around to the other side of the tree, waiting for my shadow to burst through the hole. I heard the tree creak, and move as I leaned against it. Then it made a violent jerk, and I heard another yelp. I watched as the werewolf was slung fifty-feet away, hit by an enormous branch of the tree. It started moving again, this time toward me. A limb hammered down on the ground in front of me as twigs scratched my skin on its way down. Now I understood why the tree needed to be frozen before you could even hope to approach it.

My mind raced as I had to make an exit plan. At first I thought about heading up the hill, toward the castle. That would not do, as I was in werewolf form and I was sure somebody was bound to notice a werewolf walking on its hind legs through the castle. Then there was the direction toward the lake. That was an easy decision. It was deemed the Black Lake for a reason. Even if I was an amazing swimmer (even as a werewolf), I could be grabbed by a giant squid or merpeople and never be seen again. That was completely out of the question. The only option left was to go forward, toward the Forbidden Forest. I darted away from the tree, dodging flying limbs and branches as it heaved itself around like a giant, monstrous fly swatter. I heard a growl from behind me and I knew that the other had gotten back to its feet and was following me into the woods.

I ducked trees left and right as I dashed through the forest, trying to evade my tracker. This scene felt eerily familiar. It reminded me of the vision I had the last full moon of running in the forest. Except this time, I knew exactly from what I was running. I saw through the canopy of the trees that the sky was not as dark, and the stars were fading against the sky as it turned to a lighter, pearlescent shade of blue. It was twilight. Not too long from now, it would be sunrise. I heard a long howl as I continued to run. This time, however, the howl did not sound like the werewolf chasing me, but far more familiar. I slowed down in distraction, trying to place the direction where I had heard it. In my diversion, I was tackled to the ground once more. Our teeth clanged together as we fought and rolled around on the ground, each of us constantly trying to gain the upper hand. Now that I was as close as I possibly could be to the beast, I knew exactly what Remus was talking about last month when he talked about what he smelled. The scent of savagery and viciousness emanating off of this creature was overpoweringly pungent, as if they were barely tame in human form, let alone in werewolf form.

Instead of letting this animal get the best of me, I decided to use its ferocity to my aid. I allowed it to fill my nose, then fill my body. It awakened something inside me that was brutal, and almost scary, but felt so good. I pounced forward onto my attacker, snapping my jaws in its face, desperately trying to sink my teeth into its jugular. I was in the mood to kill. I swiped my claws across its face, leaving four distinct scratches in its skin that trickled with glimmering blood that appeared to be made of rubies. I desperately wanted to taste it. I bared my teeth again, ready for the bite that would kill, when I was knocked off of my opponent by a third party. Another werewolf, this one a familiar, gentler face, knocked me to the ground, and the feeling of fierceness was gone. When I realized the hole it left inside me, I was terrified. I never wanted to feel that way again. Remus cornered the both of us, snarling and baring his teeth, warning us not to move. I obeyed out of orders, but the other werewolf obeyed out of sheer pain and tiredness. I looked over and saw that I had really caused some damaged, as the ground beneath where it lay was beginning to soak in blood.

Tiny rays peeked over the hill and peppered the forest floor with specks of light as it poked through the leaves of the trees. I saw Remus transform into a human, then I heard the sound of crying and whimpering. A girl was writhing on the ground, her face in her hands as she continued to bleed. Remus darted over to her.

"Let me help you," he said, and he brought her hands away from her tear-stricken, bloody face. I recognized her in an instant. Though her hair was as bushy as mine was now, she was unmistakable, and even Remus noticed as he took in her appearance. "Cassiopeia?" He said, stunned. She tried to stand up, hoping to run away from all of it, but she was too wounded to bear her own weight.

"Remus," a deep voice came upon us. I looked up and saw an enormous centaur towering over the three of us. I recognized him as Megorian, the leader of the herd, the one who I visioned being attacked last full moon. He looked down at the girl on the ground. "A foal. She looks badly injured," he said as the rest of his herd stood behind him. Remus nodded.

"Yes, she is a student at Hogwarts. Please take her to the castle, and notify Dumbledore immediately of the situation." Magorian nodded and picked Cassiopeia off the ground, draping her across his back. After they had gone, trotted out of the forest toward the castle, Remus looked at me admonishingly. "What the hell were you doing in the Forbidden Forest? You were supposed to stay in the Shrieking Shack!" I could barely process what he was saying. I was in shock at what had just happened.

"I was in the Shrieking Shack," I finally said. "I was just falling asleep when she barged in and attacked me like some _wild animal_." Remus rubbed his neck as he paced around. He had not been expecting this at all, I could tell. "So this is what came up? You were patrolling the forest with the centaurs instead of keeping me safe?" I said with a tone of anger in my voice.

"I thought you were safe. I had no idea she could smell you all the way in Hogsmeade."

"Well you thought wrong." I stood up and brushed myself off. We started to head toward the castle, out of the forest. "So, you know Cassiopeia." Remus exhaled deeply. "I am sure you noticed a certain likeness between us. Who is she?" I asked sternly. I figured that now was as good a time as any, having just been attacked by my doppelgänger who just so happens to be a werewolf as well. It seemed all too uncanny.

"I do not think I am the one who ought to be telling you," he said.

"Then who ought to be telling me?"

"You should ask your parents."

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**Author's Note: **I think we all know what is going on here. Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! I cannot say when the next update will happen, as I have a busy next few weeks. Tomorrow I am catching a plane to my brother's graduation from the Navy, then I take my licensing exam a few days later, then I move into my new apartment, and then I start my new job. So yeah. Busy, busy, busy. But MAYBE if you guys are extra sweet and favorite, follow, and review, I will make an extraordinary effort to quench your thirst with another installment! May the odds be ever in your favor.


	11. 11: Enlightenment

**Author's Note: **This is the longest chapter yet! I did it because I love you all and I feel bad for making you wait this long. So I apologize. Please enjoy this chapter.

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**Chapter 11**

Remus Lupin stood slumped over, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck as the towering gargoyle shifted to the side and revealed a spiraling, stone staircase etched into the wall. He exhaled deeply as he climbed the first few steps. He stopped and grabbed the wall suddenly, trying to steady himself as the blood rushed away from his head, leaving him dizzy and uneasy on his feet. The previous night's events had taken its toll on his already worn and weathered soul, the tiredness and wear visible in the fine wrinkles that traced his face. After regaining his composure, he made his way up to Dumbledore's office.

He found Dumbledore with his back to the door, his palms flat on his desk as he leaned over it, as if he was trying to catch his breath. A distinct clicking sound was heard as he tossed a lemon drop around in his mouth, concentrating on the grain of the wood as he stared down at his desk.

"How could I not have known?" Dumbledore said softly, sounding utterly defeated. Remus huffed as he shut the door to the office.

"How could you not have told me? I did not even know she was alive, let alone a werewolf! Albus, people could have died—"

"I know, Remus!" Dumbledore shouted as he turned to face him. "I know." His tone softened a bit, but the muscle in his jaw was tense and unmoving. He began to pace slowly around the circular room as the sky peering through the window above turned orange with the rising sun. "Lucius told me she had lupine tendencies when he first approached me about her attending Hogwarts. I thought he would be honest with me, seeing as this is a highly sensitive and dangerous matter had he been lying. He would know best, after all, having been the one to take her in. How could I be such a fool?"

"Lucius Malfoy? You trusted his word that this girl who was very likely to be a werewolf in fact was _not_? You do not trust former Death Eaters with matters like this!" Remus said, rubbing the back of his neck again, nervously.

"I know I was a fool."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Dumbledore exhaled. "I did not think it wise. After all, I was under the impression that she was a normal child. She was being cared for by a decent family. I did not want to cause an uproar. You said it yourself, Remus, that you did not even know she was alive. We all could have lived blissfully unaware, and carried on with our lives, grateful for what we still have."

"Well, I must say, Albus, that for once in all the years I have known you, you have made a very poor judgment, and I can't even begin to imagine what sort of repercussions might follow." Remus turned and headed out of Dumbledore's office, slamming the door behind him and leaving the man with the silvery beard standing in a daze.

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It was the day before Christmas Eve and I was exiting the train onto the platform in King's Cross Station with Harry, Ron and Hermione by my side. Friendship is a funny thing. It starts off as a few words of welcome, or congratulations, and without even meaning to, you find yourself in a position where nothing would seem right without them. That was how I felt about my two new friends. Hogwarts would not be as comfortable or safe if I did not have these people by my side. I did not say a word to them about that night of the second full moon. Even if I had intended to tell them anything, I would have had no words for it. It seemed so surreal to me now, as if it had all occurred in a dream.

Two more full moons had passed since that night, and they proved to be very uneventful and boring. Uncle Remus waited outside the door to the classroom for us to be dismissed, then took me by the arm and dragged me through the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack before the sun even had time to drift below the tree line of the Forbidden Forest. He stayed with me all night, sitting up tall, ears perfectly erect and the hairs going down his back standing straight up. I pretended to sleep some of the time and just watched him. If a leaf rustled in a tree a mile away, his ears twitched as he listened. I knew what he was really listening for. As for Cassiopeia, I barely even saw her face the whole time after that night. She kept her head down so her hair covered her face like a veil. She knew I was staring at her constantly. She knew that I knew her secret.

Mom and Dad were standing toward the front of the sea of faces, right beside James and Lily. Harry and I said our goodbyes to Ron and Hermione as they skipped off in opposite directions. Harry's parents embraced him lovingly with kisses on the cheek and tousles of his brown hair. My mother hugged me, but I found myself stiffening under her embrace. I felt betrayed by them, lied to. My father grabbed my hand, and with a faint _pop_, we disapparated out of the train station.

I felt the familiar sensation under my feet of the fluffy, tan carpet of our living room. It smelled like freshly baked chocolate chips cookies and evergreen, as the scent of the sweets mixed with the branches of the Christmas tree that stood beside the fire place. I wanted so badly to feel the same way I felt previous Christmas's where the sense of bewilderment and joy filled me up and I could almost barely contain it, but I felt weighted down, like I had cinder blocks sitting on top of my soul. I wheeled my turnk to the foot of the stairs and reached for my wand.

"Wingardium Leviosa," I said softly, and my trunk floated clumsily in the air as I guided it up the stairs with my wand.

"Well would you look at that!" My father said proudly. "Doing magic all on her own!" Then my trunk slammed down and fell back down the stairs. I turned to see my mother with a small grin on her face and her wand pointed near me.

"Now, Carina. No magic outside of school! You know that," she said with a wink. I turned away as I rolled my eyes.

"That's alright," my father said. "I'll get it for you. Locomotor trunk!" We made it to my room and my trunk plopped down onto my neatly made four-poster bed. I threw it open and began to unpack, my back turned toward my father. "It is so nice to finally have you home!" He began to say. "It has been so quiet around here. Your mother and I have gone to London practically every night of the week that last month!" I did not say a word. He exhaled uncomfortably. "So how has school been for you? We haven't heard from you in a while. You haven't written us any letters since October sometime. We wrote you a few letters but—"

"Yes, I got your letters," I said shortly, not looking his way. I heard him let out a soft '_Oh._'

"Well we weren't really worried about you. Busy with classes and new friends, I suppose. Remus let us know how you were doing."

"What has he told you?" I turned around quickly and faced him. His face was still soft and unbothered. He really had no idea about anything that had happened two months ago.

"What has he told me? What do you mean Carina?" He asked. I felt my heart starting to pound as I prepared myself to ask the question I had been wondering this entire time, too scared to write it in a letter.

"Dad," I said, my voice shaking. He took a step closer to me as I sat on the edge of the bed. "Dad, who is Cassiopeia?" I watched as his face became hard and his pupils dilated like a deer in the headlights. He cleared his throat.

"What?" He said with sort of a croak.

"Who is she?" He took a step back toward the door.

"Marilyn?" He called for my mother, his voice still caught in his throat. "Will you come up here for a moment please?" He stood with his hand over his face as I heard the faint footfalls of my mother coming up the stairs.

"What is it, Sirius?" She had a bowl in her hand and a charmed spoon stirred up the contents. He made no sound as she entered. Just looked at the floor and my mother looked to me. "What's wrong, Carina?"

"Who is Cassiopeia?" I asked again. The bowl fell from my mother's hands and landed onto the floor with a crash. Flour mixed with something gooey ran from its mouth onto the carpet. My father dug his wand lazily out of his pocket and flicked it silently as the contents shifted back into the bowl and the bowl floated to its upright position. My mother shook her head as if she was coming back to reality, awakening from a disturbing dream. My father grabbed her hand and they sat beside me on the bed. Both of them had disbelieving looks on their faces, like they were trying to wrap their heads around it as well.

For the first time in a while, I felt like waiting patiently. I knew they were going to tell me eventually, but first they had to gain the courage, just like I did when I asked about it. My mother fidgeted with her flour-covered fingers and put her hand on my knee. Here it comes.

"You were just a baby," she let out softly. "You were maybe a year old at the time. So was Cassiopeia. It was the full moon and we had just put you both to bed. I was singing a lullabye to you when we heard something downstairs. We knew Remus was coming so I kissed you both goodnight and left the room. It was raining and Remus came into the house all wet and muddy. He seemed out of breath and frantic about something but I told Sirius to go to the bathroom and get some towels so he could dry off. He started howling and whimpering, so I tried calming him down, tried to get him to sit down. I was wrestling with him when Sirius came back. Remus looked him in the eye and we heard a crash come from upstairs."

"It turns out he was trying to warn us, but we did not try to listen to him," my dad added.

My mother nodded and then continued. "We heard you girls crying and screaming and we opened the door and there was this enormous monster standing above your crib. He had Cassiopeia in his mouth. He saw Remus and did not hesitate before jumping out the window and running off in the night, taking her with him." Her words trailed off into a sob.

"Remus and I tried chasing him down, but he was long gone," my father continued. "We tried everything we could to find her, but nothing worked. We couldn't find her or Fenrir Greyback, the werewolf who took her. After a few years, the Ministry of Magic told us they were stopping the search because she was most likely killed the night she was kidnapped." My mother was crying much harder now, and my father rubbed her back consolingly. "I did not believe it though. Neither did Remus. He said he knew this Greyback and said he wasn't out there to kill children. He liked to bite them and turn them into werewolves, building a following. We have always been looking for her." My mother raised her head and wiped her face on her apron.

"We decided not to tell you because we did not want you to always be wondering what happened to your twin sister. We wanted you to live a happy childhood." She said.

I stared at the floor, dumbfounded. "I knew she looked just like me," I said softly.

"What was that, dear?" My mother asked, not hearing what I had just said.

"How do you know about Cassiopeia, Carina? Did Remus tell you about her?" My father asked. I shook my head. How was I going to tell them that their long-lost daughter, my twin sister, was a dangerous werewolf living at Hogwarts? What would they do? What was the best way to tell them about all the encounters I have had with this mystery girl without even realizing she was the other half to me? I said the only thing that popped into my head.

"She's a Slytherin."

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**Author's Note:** So there it is! Once again, I am so sorry for making you wait. I have been pulling 8 hour to 12 hour shifts and I am having a hard time finding time! I am going to try harder though. Just bear with me and know that I will not abandon you. Keep an eye out for the next installment and remember to review, review, review!


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